STORIES / Okara’shòn:’a
Lost caribou
I was the tech on a film shoot way up in Nunavik and we had the president of the Quebec Ministere des Forets, de la Faune et des Parcs with us.
When he shows up there, he’s got this $3,000 rifle, with a scope and the whole thing. The guy’s a lawyer, he doesn’t know this shit.
Making lacrosse sticks
I love lacrosse. Even now, today. My husband Jimmy used to make lacrosse sticks. It was a lot of work. There was a show at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal a while ago. It was an exhibition on things Mohawks made, like lacrosse sticks or basket weaving.
Centred around the garden
I come from a traditional background in the Longhouse. Food and the relationship to nature is one of the basic principle teachings. Part of our ways, our customs, our traditions are related to the gardens and how the food grows. How does life continue? You need the food.
Survival school
We established the school over the weekend. The students called it Survival School because it was for the survival of our language and culture.
Maple candies
If you’re gonna travel the world, maple candies are the best ambassador of Canada. I was doing the circumpolar meeting of Native languages in Tromsø, Norway.
Left handed twin
In our Creation story, the left-handed twin is the Creator’s brother. I don’t hate him. He’s still my grandfather. But Christianity says, “No, you’ve got to hate the Devil, be at war with the Devil.” All this made up stuff to confuse the hell out of humans.
Day and night
In order to comprehend the Longhouse creation story, you have to see the birth of the twins as sacred energies.
How to run a powwow
We had a big problem here in Kahnawake and Kanesatake way back in 1990. After everything was over and the dust settled, we tried to reconcile with the neighbours and surrounding communities. We sent out an olive branch, figuratively.
Women and Mother Earth
The most important thing in our culture is the women, not the men. We are only tools of the nation.
Creation story
I don’t know if Spirit up there, somewhere, is watching over us. When things happen, you go back to your Creation Story, and Creation Story tells us that when we’re born, we come from Spirit World, and we come into this physical world to have an experience of what it’s like to be physical.